1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for dispersing solids into liquids. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for metering the dispersal of dry particulate material into a liquid in order to form a thorough mixture.
2. Background of the Invention
There are numerous processes and apparatus utilizing the incorporation of solid particulate material into a liquid. The dry material may be in a very fine powder, or quite coarse, while the liquid may be water or some organic solvent, or even a slurry of solids. In general, techniques that have been utilized in the past attempted to rely principally upon agitation to effect the intimate mixture of the dry material and the liquid. While agitation can be effective to ultimately produce a dispersion of the dry powder, at high concentrations there is substantial difficulty in producing a proper dispersion.
Generally the prior art techniques do not adequately disperse the dry particulate material into the liquid prior to the application of any agitation to the liquid and dry material mix. The initial dispersion of the dry particulate material, both in the proper quantity and distributed in a uniform manner, is important to forming a proper mixture.
3. The Prior Art
In the Byrd U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,150, a generally similar dispensing device is illustrated, but such device is disclosed to be utilized for liquid dispensing, and also does not have a metering capability to distribute the material to be dispensed in a wide area. Also, such device is capable of clogging if used for dry material, due to the configuration of the valve closure, and the fact that the valve rod inherently moves laterally, to some degree, due to the bell crank operation at the rod's upper end.